Never Forgotten
by apollosspear
Summary: Kara/Lee, A year after the finale and Lee is Exploring this new Earth


**A/N Big Big thanks to my Beta the awesome Buckeye94. I am having a hard time with the way the Kara/Lee relationship ended. I have four different endings that i can come up with that I think are better than what we saw. Then, all of a sudden, this forced its' way out of my head and onto my computer. So I am sharring it with you. Enjoy!!**

One whole year had passed since they have made it to this planet, Kara's final gift to all of humanity, and cylon kind as well. Lee thought of Kara all the time. Barely a second went by without a thought of "Kara would have liked that," or "Kara would have thought that was beautiful."

Right now, as Lee reached for another precarious handhold on the cliff he had chosen to climb on his journey, Lee thought Kara would have told him he was frakking insane. It was hot and the humid wind coming off the stretch of water below made his palms sweat just as much as the rest of his body. Not very safe for rock climbing, but Lee had gotten stubborn when the path along the sea he was walking along ran into this cliff, and he just refused to take the four days to backtrack.

"Take a breath Lee." He took a deep one, oxygen filling his lungs and giving him the strength to pull himself closer to the top of the cliff face. "Feels good being alive, doesn't it?" Kara's voice rang in his head. "Not without you here, with me," he thought.

That happened all the time, too. Things she said, things she did, every precious second he spent with her replayed in his mind over and over again. Not for the first time Lee wondered if he had lost his mind after abandoning the rest of the survivors. Over a year alone with just a ghost and memories of the love you have lost can destroy a person. Apparently, Lee Adama was no different.

He reached for the next handhold when the toehold his foot was on broke. "Lee!" Kara called out in horror in his head. Lee scrambled for a hold with his free hand as he had only milliseconds before his grip faltered. As his fingers slipped off of the rock he miraculously grabbed another. His body jerked and pain shot through his shoulder as his fall abruptly stopped. He pulled himself to a stable hold, pulling in deep, panic filled mouthfuls of air.

"No reason to get excited Lee," she said, and Lee closed his eyes to calm himself before climbing the last hundred feet, thinking "Yeah, like you wouldn't have gotten excited too." He heard her laugh in the full, from your belly way that she had.

After another hour of straining, he neared the top of the cliff, and Lee looked down below at the drop of several hundred feet and blew out some air. As he looked up a pair of hands were suddenly held out to help him up to the top.

Lee followed the arms to two people he didn't think he would ever see again. "Come on, son. We'll help you the rest of the way," Bill said with a smile gracing his weathered face.

"Yeah, bro. You're almost done," Zak laughed as he grabbed Lee's hand.

His father and brother lifted him over the edge and onto his feet before engulfing him in a hug.

"Let the man go, Bill. His journey has a few steps left to go," Laura chided as she wiped the tears off of his cheeks and gave him a peck on each one.

"What?" Lee tried to ask only for Zak to interrupt.

"Shut up, Lee. She's been waiting a long time for you to get here."

"Who Zak?" Lee asked. Zak just smiled and pointed behind Lee, further inland from the cliff's edge.

Lee turned to see Kara's smiling face a hundred yards away. She stood there dressed in her cargos and double tanks, always more comfortable in military casual attire. Her golden hair blowing behind her in the breeze.

"What are you waiting for son?" Bill asked, his hand on Lee's back slightly nudging him towards Kara.

Lee looked at Zak, with not a little guilt written on his face. "It's okay, Lee. I had my time. It's your time to be happy now, and she was never mine to begin with. I'm happy for you both," Zak said with a smile.

His brother's permission given Lee turned back to Kara and his steps became a run as he rushed to her. He wrapped her in his arms just like when she landed on the flight deck in the nebula. Only this time there were no interruptions, no mistakes called spouses to watch out for. No guilt to hold them back. He let go of her only to cup her cheeks and kiss her for all he was worth.

When he finally stopped he said one thing, "I love you Kara Thrace."

Kara giggled like he had heard only once, on New Caprica, and replied, "Hi Lee. I love you, too. Welcome home."


End file.
